Ancient Sinkhole Discovery: Meet the ‘Giant’ Flying Squirrel Unearthed in the Appalachian Mountains!

Researchers at the Gray Fossil Site and Museum in northeastern Tennessee have made an exciting discovery. They found the remains of a 4.9-million-year-old giant flying squirrel, known as Miopetaurista webbi.

This site has already revealed many ancient creatures, such as red pandas and rhinoceroses, and it keeps surprising scientists with new finds.

While flying squirrels have been seen in Eurasia for a long time, this fossil is special because it shows that they were also in North America. Before this, there were only uncertain reports of flying squirrels in Florida. This new find proves that these giant squirrels, which weighed about 1.4 kg—three times more than today’s gray squirrels—once lived here.

This discovery is important because it suggests these creatures may have crossed the Bering Land Bridge, connecting Asia and North America, around 5 million years ago. Dr. Isaac Casanovas-Vilar, a paleontologist from Spain, pointed out that this fossil provides crucial evidence that these giant squirrels traveled alongside other mammals during that time.

The giant flying squirrel was well-adapted to living high in the trees. Its large gliding membranes allowed it to soar through the air, helping it evade predators and navigate the dense forests it called home. During the Pliocene epoch, the climate was much warmer, creating perfect conditions for these squirrels to thrive in North America.

However, as the Ice Ages arrived and the climate cooled, many species faced major changes in their environment. According to Montserrat Grau-Camats, this cooling trend isolated the giant flying squirrels in warmer areas like Florida, ultimately leading to their extinction. The last species of Miopetaurista in North America survived long after their cousins disappeared in Eurasia, becoming what we might call “living fossils.”

The Gray Fossil Site remains crucial for understanding the prehistoric world of Appalachia. Managed by East Tennessee State University’s Don Sundquist Center of Excellence in Paleontology, it continues to yield significant fossils, including those of a bone-crushing dog and various ancient plants and animals.

Dr. Joshua Samuels, a researcher from East Tennessee State University, expressed his excitement about the giant flying squirrel. He shared, “It is amazing to imagine these giant flying squirrels gliding over rhinos and mastodons living in the forests of Tennessee 5 million years ago.”